A Place to Call Their Own
by TheNewIdea
Summary: Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote could not have been more different from each other; the only real thing they had in common with that they were both Looney Tunes. A story where complete strangers become the closest of friends, the closest of friends become complete strangers, and the world begins to remember. The direct sequel to Up on High.


Pulling into a gas station, Bugs Bunny sighed and shook his head, wondering how it was that he had come to be where he now found himself. It was difficult to believe, that he had just thrown everything he had ever known away, almost entirely for someone he knew very little about. Looking to his right and seeing a sleeping Wile E. Coyote, Bugs instantly began to have doubts, if he could ever fulfill the promise he had made: _"I promise you Wile E., I'm getting you your life back. Even if it kills me; I owe you that much."_ The words echoed and rang into his ears, refusing to be silenced; a constant reminder of his obligation, both as a Looney Tune and as something else entirely that he could not necessarily define. Bugs wished with all his heart that Daffy was there, for he always seemed to have an idea about what to do next, and if not him then Elmer Fudd, if only to provide a distraction to his predicament. He had no plan, no direction in which to go, only a promise; and if it was one thing about Bugs Bunny that anyone could be absolutely certain of, it was that he kept his promises.

Stepping out of the car and making his way into the convenient store, which was relatively empty as far as convenient stores went, Bugs casually browsed through the dollar magazines and candy, trying his best not to look at anything and draw attention to himself. Humming to himself, Bugs turned around and decided against his better judgment to get some caffeine into his system, wagering that wherever he drove that night it would be far away from where he now stood. The selections being meager, Bugs settled on an Mountain Dew and grabbed a Snickers bar for himself and, not knowing what Wile E.'s preference was, or if he even liked candy to begin with, played it safe and picked up a Hershey bar. Walking over to the counter and pulling out his wallet, Bugs, his eyes locked firmly on the ground, not even bothering to look the cashier, whose name was Davis, in the eye, the hare, his purchase complete, calmly headed for the door. At the same time, a woman in her early thirties, Davis' sister Danielle, a decent looking woman who always seemed to dress one degree too casual for any occasion, walked inside, running into Bugs and causing him to drop the bag he was carrying, which promptly busted open, spilling the drinks and candy all over the entrance.

"I'm sorry" Danielle said apologetically as she stooped down to assist, "I didn't see you there."

Bugs shook it off and sighed, too tired to properly give a response, for the day had already been bad enough. As far as he was concerned, this was simply added punishment, both for his life and for his recent decisions. He knew that in many ways he was being way too hard on himself but given his current state of mind he didn't really care. There would be other times when manners and apologizes were properly called for, but this was not one of those times. This was the time for festering, brooding, and general self-pity.

"Be careful next time" Bugs replied as he stood up, the door bringing him down, grumbled and half mumbling to himself as he gathered his items, at the same time giving Danielle the coldest shoulder available.

Danielle huffed and rose to her feet, amazed that anyone, even at this late an hour, would be so inhospitable to accept help, especially after a minor accident. It was obvious to her that there was more to Bugs' reaction than her hitting him with the door and knocking him down to the floor; of course, she did not say this, for she had no reason to, at least not at the moment, having no real affiliation with Bugs other than this brief encounter. Still, despite Bugs' behavior, Danielle instantly became curious.

"So" Danielle began, trying to start conversation, openly the door nonchalantly allowing Bugs to pass if he wished, "What brings a Looney Tune out here?"

Bugs sighed and groaned; under normal circumstances he would have said that he was on tour or visiting family, but since this was not the case and Bugs hated to lie for the sake of being purposefully deceptive, he went with the only answer he could give.

"For the first time in my life, I don't really know."

Danielle nodded in understanding, for she could easily relate to that kind of sentiment. She herself was often prone to driving simply for its own sake, with no real direction and no plan other than to drive until she ran out of gas. It was a beautiful, if somewhat flawed philosophy; one that Bugs, and to a lesser extent Wile E. Coyote, shared to some degree. As Bugs walked out of the store and headed towards his car, it was all that Danielle could do not to pry further; and so, her curiosity peaked, followed Bugs as confidently as she dared.

"I get it" Danielle declared, "You got problems, so does everyone. What makes you different?"

Bugs turned around, not bothering to stop, being an expert backwards walker, and huffed defensively. It was incredible, he thought, his inner voice as sarcastic as his on-screen persona, that a complete stranger would develop a sudden interest in him without wanting something for nothing. As he recalled, the last time he mingled with humans it resulted in _Looney Tunes: Back in Action_ , an experience that resulted in several years of therapy and an eternal hatred of Brendan Frasier for besmirching whatever name the Looney Tunes still possessed at the time.

"What are you some kind of shrink?" Bugs returned, wanting nothing more than for her to go away and leave him alone, "A reporter perhaps? Looking for the tell-all story about fallen celebrities and washed up has-beens? Because if that's the case I really don't have the time nor the patience to deal with you."

Danielle smiled and pitifully shook her head, refusing to believe that Bugs Bunny, of all the people in the world, would ever talk to anyone in such a way without having a good reason for it. Her suspicions were confirmed, Bugs was troubled; worse than that he was hurt and generally unsure of himself. With this in mind, Danielle, taking the initiative, walked forward and extended her hand.

"We haven't been properly introduced" she began, "Danielle Davis, chiropractor."

Bugs, haphazardly accepting the handshake, if only to save face and not come off as a complete asshole, sat down his bag and looked her over. Danielle was not the sort of person he thought would be a good chiropractor, for her hands were relatively small, her arms were shorter than usual and her legs abnormally long. Although he knew that looks had almost nothing to do with the practice, it was at least a good portion of how one made first impressions, and Bugs remained relatively unimpressed.

"Bugs Bunny" he answered promptly, keeping his thoughts to himself, "You know who I am."

Bugs glanced casually at Wile E., whose head was resting against the window, his mouth gaping open, revealing his teeth and saliva covered tongue as condensation formed onto the glass, the coyote's warm breath, long since deprived of any kind of freshness, slowly filling the air around him.

"That's Wile E. Coyote. But you already knew that too didn't you?"

Danielle nodded, for she indeed knew who they were, for despite recent events they were still well known in many circles as popular culture icons. Bugs could only laugh to himself at the irony of the situation. Danielle, leaning against the side of the car, haphazardly stared at Wile E. with the same kind of curiosity she had with Bugs, wondering the same kinds of questions as well as some that were specific to the coyote. Smiling and nodding to herself, Danielle turned her attention back to Bugs, who by this point, had opened the door to the back seat.

"So I guess Daffy Duck wasn't available huh?" Danielle said, immediately causing Bugs to freeze.

"No he wasn't" Bugs declared sadly, "I've haven't seen Daffy in a long time. Close to ten years now."

Danielle stopped for a moment, watching Bugs' face as he remembered Daffy Duck; particularly his ears, which seemed to be the most expressive part of his body. Drooping over the back of his head and appearing wet even though they had been dry and slightly curled at the end, showing stress; Bugs' ears were a dead giveaway as to the rabbit's inner thoughts. True, she knew that it wasn't entirely fool proof, otherwise it would be nearly impossible for him to be a good actor or do anything with any degree of confidence without someone calling him out if he was lying. Danielle, for her part, did the only thing she could do and gently placed her hand on the rabbit's shoulder, trying her best to be comforting and failing in the effort.

"You can't do it alone" Danielle exclaimed.

Bugs laughed, for somewhere he had those words before, either in a dream or from one his friends; perhaps he had even said the words himself. In any case, the knowledge that he was doing this alone was something that was all too real not to believe. He was only a few miles away from the studio, everything that up until that point had been his life, yet despite this he felt as if he were in a vacuum in deep space. All of his friends, those he knew the location of, were still a few states away, the closest being Speedy Gonzales in Southern Arizona; the furthest was Daffy in Connecticut. The rest- Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian, and Pepe le Pew- scattered across the country trying to live their lives in the best ways they knew how to live them. As far as he could tell, the only way for things to get back to normal, to fulfill his promise, was to find them. What would happen when he did was something he would deal with when it happened.

"Who said I was alone?" Bugs returned, "I got me, me and me."

Danielle laughed and huffed, remembering Bugs and his penchant for sarcasm and wit; even when it wasn't necessarily required or appropriate. Smiling and wondering to herself if she was slowly going insane, Danielle opened the back door of Bugs' car only to walk away and return with a duffle bag.

"What's that?" Bugs asked, confused as to why Danielle had thrown it in the back seat, "You're not coming with me."

Danielle shrugged and pretended to ignore him, making herself comfortable and closing the door. Sighing to himself and groaning in disbelief, Bugs forcefully opened the door and with an authoritative finger pointed outside.

"Get out" Bugs berated, "I've got enough trouble as it is; I don't need you adding more."

Danielle smiled and glanced towards Wile E.; her smile was devilish, it spoke of mischief and was a smile that Bugs knew well, being on both ends too many times to bother counting. Placing her hands on Wile E.'s headrest, Danielle began, rather violently, to shake the passenger seat as hard and as fast as she could, causing Wile E. to jolt up. As his heart began beating three times faster than normal and the look of terror and utter dread manifested on his face as sweat dripped down his cheek and salvia flew in all directions, Wile E. immediately thought about all the things he had done in his life that St. Peter would scold him for and in his head began making a list of people he needed to apologize to as an early draft of his will. Looking around with the skittishness of a deer trapped in headlights, the coyote, clutching his chest and taking long and exaggerated gulps of air, tried his best to speak.

"Bugs" Wile E. began, "I am dying? Please, tell them that I'm sorry. I don't want to go out on a bad note!"

Bugs gently placed a hand on Wile E.'s shoulder and did his best to comfort him, at the same time giving a rather scolding stare to Danielle; who could only laugh at herself, satisfied in her work.

"You're not dying" Bugs exclaimed, motioning towards her, "Say hello to our newest biggest fan, Danielle Davis."

Wile E. raised his eyebrows, his curiosity peaked, and casually turned around, immediately facing Danielle. The coyote could not help but notice her eyes, which were a light blue; as well as her hair, a light blonde that rested unevenly on her shoulders. Wile E. could tell immediately that she was going to be trouble, if only because he had his own reservations when it came to humans, and thus remained, at least in his head, cautiously optimistic.

"Wile E. Coyote" Wile E. said, introducing himself, "The pleasure is all mine. Now please, if you don't mind, I would like to get back to sleep. I've had such a dreadfully long day and I really don't-"

Danielle sulked to herself and folded her arms, pouting. This behavior cut Wile E. short, for he saw a grown woman act like a child for no particular reason other than to be incredibly annoying. He wondered if perhaps she was mentally inept or had some sort of social disorder that wasn't inherently obvious; or if not the case, that she was incredibly at getting under people's skin. He wagered a bit on the latter, but took great thought as to the former. The coyote, in order to maintain face, did not air any of these thoughts, keeping them to himself and decided to humor her.

"What's your favorite cartoon?" Wile E. began, "Doesn't have to be any of ours per se-"

The coyote turned to Bugs with the gentlest smile that he could give for a coyote, his canines shining a bit, in part due to saliva and the gas station lights above them, and let out a laugh that was equally gentle as if he were remembering something. He then noticed Danielle's bags and deduced correctly that she was either in mid-travel like themselves, or she was starting her journey where she stood. Danielle, for her part, intrigued by the question, if only because it was a Looney Tune who was asking it, promptly gave the best answer she could, at the same time cutting Wile E. off.

"I always liked _Knighty-Knight Bugs_ " Danielle answered, "It's so simple and yet just the right amount of stupidity-"

Wile E. chuckled to himself while Bugs huffed and rolled his eyes. In truth, they both found her answer to be somewhat of an insult, for they took great pride in their work and respected each other too much to even think about belittling it to such a degree as to call it "stupid" or "childish". True, they recognized that their main medium and audience was primarily marketed for children, but they never saw themselves as such, holding to a higher standard of living and self-respect.

"That wouldn't be the first time anyone's called my work stupid" Bugs declared, "But at least you're honest about it. Most people just flat out lie."

Wile E. nodded in agreement, "Yes its true" he concurred, "Nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone as candid as you are Miss Davis. It is, with all due respect, refreshing to say the least."

Bugs casually stepped out of the way, making room for Danielle to pass through; she remained motionless, her hand grasped tightly on her suitcase. It was obvious that she was still fully intent on accompanying them for whatever reason, and it was something that Bugs was simply tired of dealing with.

"Look Danielle" Bugs exclaimed, "You're nice and everything but we can't just have you travel with us. We barely know each other."

Danielle laughed pitifully, Bugs' words only strengthening her inner resolve.

"So" she replied, "You and Wile E. are traveling together and you barely know each other what's the difference?"

Bugs stared at Wile E., a bit hurt by the statement, for it carried more truth than she knew. It was no secret between them that outside of work the rabbit and coyote had little interaction with each other; for Wile E. worked almost solely with the Road Runner and Chuck Jones, whereas Bugs, being more versatile, had colleagues and friends in almost every capacity. They could not been more different from each other, and yet for some reason, as they stood and sat in the gas station lot, Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote found themselves in a strange sort of impasse, the solution of which, remained relatively unclear.

Wile E., mustering as much courage as he could, fought through his own uncomfortableness, in his head thinking about the devastation he had felt when Road Runner had officially left Warner Brothers, leaving him without a single friend in the world; and began to speak.

"What's the plan Bugs?" the coyote asked, "What do we do now?"

It did not take long for Bugs to answer the question, for in many ways he already had an answer, which was the beginning of plan that, in effect seemed simple, but was in reality, incredibly complicated.

"We're going to prove the Warners wrong" Bugs answered as he made his around to the driver's seat, closing the passenger door on his way.

Wile E. smiled to himself, not because he knew what it was that Bugs was referring to; in fact, it was safe he knew very little when it came to the rabbit's line of thinking, but it made little difference. It was enough for him to hear that the quest was to stick in the face of the company that they had been with for so many years, only to be dropped and thrown out into the streets like the animals the majority of them happened to be.

"What about her?" Wile E. said with a yawn, obviously mentioning Danielle, "You honestly think it's a good idea having her with us? Who knows what kind of trouble she is, not to mention that she might be a total wacko."

Bugs concurred, for he thought it was a terrible idea; the last thing they needed was unnecessary burdens, especially after everything they had endured. It was bad enough that Wile E., just a few hours before, had tried to asphyxiate himself; now, before the matter could even be discussed in full, and the opportunity for help presented itself, a complete and total stranger with a seemingly unhealthy fixation that border-lined sociopathy, had forced herself onto them without a single word of protest being adhered to. It was both incredibly annoying and somewhat admirable, for, if the situation were reserved and Bugs needed to go to a particular place, he would equally force himself onto a random person. The danger of course was lessened for him, given his physical properties, still, the principle and the general insanity of the gesture remained.

"Wile E." Bugs declared, his soft and somewhat sincere, "We can't do this alone. Crazy or not, human or toon, she's offering to help us. She might not have said it, but that's what she's implying. It's not up to me though, it's up to you. Can you handle being with her?"

Wile E. sighed and closed his eyes, in his head he began to think about his interactions with humans and its less than stellar record. He could not count how many times he had been hit on the head with a frying pan, or a baseball bat, or any available household item; or how many children had been pulled away by parents at local events; or even the looks given by random passersby. It was painful to think about, and yet despite it the coyote felt a glimmer of hope, if nothing else because of the promise that had presented itself.

"Let it never be said that Wile E. Coyote did not take a chance on someone just because they were different" Wile E. replied, "Whatever she is, whoever she is, I'll risk it. Besides, if she is crazy, she's in good company, I mean looney is in the name after all."

Bugs could not help but laugh, Wile E.'s dry sense of humor a comfort in an otherwise depressing and unappealing situation. Danielle, who knew when people talked about her, especially when they were only inches away, casually pretended that she didn't hear anything and began texting on her phone in an attempt to appear busy. At the moment, she was texting Davis, letting him know of her impending trip across the country. It was here that she fully realized the ridiculousness of the name Davis Davis, which was almost as bad as Montgomery Montgomery as far as names went; but she assumed that if anything her parents had a decent, if old-fashioned, sense of humor, which given the current company, two self-described has-beens from a bygone era, seemed like a dream come true.

As they pulled out of the gas station, their minds made up and their resolve more than clear for the moment, the three acquaintances each went into themselves; wondering how far things were going to go. Individually however, their thoughts were drastically different. Bugs could think of nothing but Daffy, Danielle's words from earlier echoing back in his head; Danielle thought of how they were going to convince any of them to agree to whatever it was they were doing, for that was something that only Bugs really knew to begin with; as for Wile E. Coyote, he only thought about the life he had before and the chances of it ever returning. There were some parts he knew he wanted to keep, his relationship with Road Runner for example, the two of them making amends shortly before the big lay-offs; but there were other things that he would rather live without, starving on a regular basis and being alone taking the top spots on his list of things he needed to change. Wile E. had always pictured himself a family man, among a few other aspirations. He would not go as far as to say that he imagined the pitter-patter of feet on hardwood floors or anything of the kind, for he was not that romantic when it came to the idea of parenthood, much more suitable, was the comfortable intimacy that was had when passing on knowledge from one generation to another; the soft words and kind deeds that were had when things did not necessarily go according to plan, and the cheers of victory and encouragement when they did. With this thought in his head, Wile E. smiled and once again drifted off to sleep, comforted with the knowledge of a new beginning; what exactly it was the beginning of, he could not be certain, but as far as he was concerned, it was better than being dead.


End file.
